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As the new school year approaches, one thing on my list, along with a million others, is to think about easy lunches I can make. Our family chooses to bring our lunch to school each day. As teachers, you know we do not get a nice long lunch so I need my lunches to be healthy and quick.
Planning lunches
Just like at school, I’m a big planner. I plan all of my lunches the best I can for the week. On Sunday, I prep anything that I can, chop veggies and fruit etc and pre pack anything that I can that will be good through the week in the refrigerator. I also try to make something to put in the freezer like a soup and portion it into thermos size for easy lunches.
These are some of my go to lunch packing books for new ideas.
The Best Homemade Kids’ Lunches On the Planet
Weelicious Lunches
This one has a chapter on lunches that are all very yummy!
If books are overwhelming for you to look through for ideas, I also use the Healthy Lunch Plan from emeals.com.
They provide you a weeks worth of lunch recipes/lunches including a shopping list. There is also usually a bonus packable treat because everyone needs a little dessert! This makes packing lunches a no brainer and you can easily prep a lot of the ingredients and lunches ahead of time. You can sign up for the emeals lunches here.
Favorite Quick Teacher Lunches
These are some of my favorite lunches to pack. They all will work to take to school wether you have a small refrigerator in your classroom or just adding an ice pack to your bag.
Mediterranean Sampler – Humus, cherry tomatores, cucumber slices, carrots and multi grain crackers. On the side strawberries, grapes and melon chunks.
Pepperoni Pasta Salad – pasta with mozzarella cheese cubes, chopped broccoli, pepperoni slices and Italian dressing. On the side a sliced apple.
Southwest Quinoa – quinoa, salsa, black beans, corn, cilantro. On the side cherry tomatoes and tortilla chips.
Crockpot potato soup from the freezer. On the side corn bread muffin from the freezer and carrot sticks.
Chicken salad sliders – On the side peach slices and pretzel sticks.
Cheddar and pear quesadilla – tortilla, pear, cheese On the side grapes and celery sticks.
Build your own parfait- yogurt, berries, granola.
Leftovers! I’m the only one that eats them in my house!
And have you seen these amazing little crockpots? Perfect for heating up your food so lunch is ready to go. No waiting to warm up your food or even a need to go to the lounge, just sit back and relax for a few in the quiet of your classroom. We share 6 mini crockipot lunch ideas here.
And if you’re looking for a new lunch bag, we share all of favorites along with our favorite lunchbox supplies too. Come and see our favorites here.
I even have a Pinterest board for lunchbox ideas that has a ton of easy ideas that you can check out here.
Hopefully these lunch ideas help to make back to school a little easier and take one thing off of your plate. Do you normally pack your lunches every day?
Thanks for stopping by!
Jenette
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